Taking Time to Remember

I keep this quote taped above the calendar.  It's a reminder to keep me focused on what really matters.

And as one month closes and another opens, I look back and see the failures and successes in living this focused life during November.  I see ordinary days, extraordinary days, and everything in between.  I can remember days of joy, days of pain, days of love unleashed and days of heartache.  This is life...the ever unfolding array of emotions and experiences.  Only one life, and it will soon be past......

Before falling into December's busy pace, I wanted to sit quietly and remember November...

Cups of hot tea...

Daily meals that fed body and soul...

The whirring of the grinder and the smell of fresh ground wheat...

Autumn books coming out of storage...

A Medieval night's candlelight dinner planned by my youngest son, including live music as both boys alternated between eating and playing instruments...

Sugar pumpkins that were decorations in October were baked in November for fresh pumpkin pies...

A growing boy's hands helped Mama snap green beans...

Sweet potatoes were mashed...

I passed along my secret recipe for mashed potatoes to my oldest son (who did a fabulous job!)...

Pumpkin pies fresh out of the oven (this recipe is for Crunchy Pumpkin Pie and is topped with pecans)...

Sweet oldest daughter with her hands messy in meal preparation...

My 2 boys came inside with sticks they found in the woods for our thankful tree...

Our thankful tree...

Lovin' these things we are thankful for...the simplicity of gratitude struck me...

Creative and fun place cards for our Thanksgiving meal...

Giggling...one of our favorite things to do!  A little more that 4 years ago, this child was in an orphanage...her face etched with loss and hurt.  To see sheer joy on that same face now is a miracle to behold...and to be chosen as her Mama is a gift.

Siblings enjoying each other....ahh, this makes my heart happy...

Crowded in together enjoying a book...one of my very favorite pastimes...

A Thanksgiving meal that everyone helped make...

Goodies...

Eating pumpkin pie, watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving, and enjoying a fire...a perfect way to wrap up the evening.

These moments I treasure in my heart...the mundane, the amazing, the calm, the storm, the happy, the sad, the love, the hurt...all blend together into a mosaic.  And I will remember this November.